Climbing with your whole body

[psychling]

I'm slo-o-o-wly getting some semblance of conditioning back now that I have more time to train and ride.

Out in the rural Illinois prairie over the weekend on my Silvio. Capacity, consistency and training results in improved performance.

My primary reason for going with Cruzbike's FWD platform is so that I can gain access to the top half of my body when riding the recumbent.

On the RWD recumbents climbing would frustrate the heck out of me. I couldn't use my upper body and I'd watch the DF / standard upright cyclists pass me like I was a road sign. RWD recumbents make me feel `stuck.'

DF / standard upright cyclists could rock their bike back and forth, pull on the handlebars, stand on the pedals as they rotated their position on the bike to match the challenge of the hill. When they became exhausted they'd just sit back in the saddle and slowly crank until their energy returned. And then back at it they would go.

The route I followed yesterday had several 4 - 7% grade climbs that amounted to about a 1/4 mile of climbing at a time. So I decided to `use' my upper body to hammer up these hills.

Never on a RWD recumbent have I been able to climb a 4+ % grade at 18.6 mph for hundreds of yards at a time.

What a refreshing change from making my legs and hips `carry' all the load.

I found myself pulling the handlebars, leaning out of the recline position, and putting my whole body to work in powering up the hills. All the parts of my body that have been neglected in RWD recumbents now came in to play. Shouldering into the pedals was / is a new recumbent experience for me ... and I love it!

I have a lot of work to do in building grip, arm, shoulder and core muscle sets so that I can more readily achieve the uphill speeds I managed yesterday. Nice to have a cycling platform (Cruzbike FWD) that has the potential of returning my effort with performance. Can't wait to get the Vendetta on those Arizona hills and mountains.

Here's a link to my Garmin data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/93570350

Dan

http://psychling1.blogspot.com/

 

[John Tolhurst]

shouldering into the pedals

You summed it up Dan, and nicely too. That is exactly what its about - not all the time - but often enough to be very important. I can't wait for riders to recognise the acceleration they can access on the Vendetta, or the Silvio.

 

[COBRA GT]

Technique question

How far do you raise your back off the seat? Are my shoulders close to the bars ? Where do you grip the bars ? Are you pulling the bars straight back or pulling upwards ? Thanx. Gary .

 

[MrSteve]

As you lean forward out of

As you lean forward out of the reclined position to engage your entire body in the work to power up hills,
you get the added benefit of putting more of your weight over the front, driven wheel.

For Gary ("Cobra GT"):
How far you raise out of your recline depends on which model Cruzbike you're riding, your seat angle,
your handlebar type/position and your level of comfort doing so!

I find myself rocking the bike from side to side as well as being up out of the seat,
much like a sprinter or a good climber does while riding a main-stream D.F. (Diamond Frame) bike.


---

When NOT climbing, but when I need a burst of power in, say, a sprint?
I'll raise my bum out of the seat a little bit... this helps my bike rock from side to side more easily
and engages most of my body into the effort to produce mooooore speeeeeed!

 

[Lief]

my climbing style...and sprinting.

When I climb really steep stuff I end up using the hoods on my SRAM Rival brifters.
My bike rocks back and forth as well.
sometimes my butt even creeps up the back of the seat a little bit.

I maintain a pretty close distance to the pedals (from the seatback) because of the number of times I have to climb like this in my daily commute.
If I were doing 100 miles a day, lot's of flats, or touring or something I might extend that back out a bit to get more leg extension.

oh - and as for the sprint speeds you can attain on the Silvio - I'm no racer and I hit 34.9(by my cycle-computer) with an average 34.4MPH average on a flat, no wind, electronically timed 200M flying start sprint.

Only one guy, a member of Team Bachetta did better than that on that day.
I imagine that the superior aerodynamics of the Vendetta would have made up that difference on that day.

Maybe next time...

 

[COBRA GT]

Riding techniques

Hey. Thanx guys. Using brifters and seat bridging really works! 1500 miles on Silvio and still improving with each mile. G.T..

 

[Firecracker]

Using Whole Body

I thought I wanted a Cruzbike before I put John's 'theory' to the test, but now I REALLY want one. I recently tried using my upper body more on my DF and have noticed an increase in power and speed. It's like rowing or pedaling while being clipped in. There's more leverage if the top part of the body is pulling while the bottom is pushing. I have always been focused on the perfect push/pull pedal stroke to increase efficiency and power, but until I started using my upper body to pull on the handlebars after reading about Cruzbikes, it didn't seem that obvious--it is now! If it works on a DF--which isn't engineered for upper body leveraging, how much more a CruzeBike that is! Now if they would just hurry up and make the Silvio more accommodating for shorter x-seams, I won't have to deal with the slowness and discomfort of a DF anymore!

 

[John Tolhurst]

the same riding techniques apply

Thanks! All I have wanted to do was allow a recumbent to be ridden with the same full body involvement that applies to a regular bike.

 

[psychling]

Tip on descending at speed

I come from a strong RWD recumbent background where the frame was just one long stick with a crank on the front end. I was used to almost NO use of my arms and shoulders except to lightly influence steering direction.

Riding on the FWD Silvio and Vendetta is clearly different. Using my arms, shoulders, legs and ankle pedaling has dramatically improved my overall physical fitness at no cost to performance on the bike.

I learned that descending steep mountain grades (some very twisty) on the Cruzbikes requires that I focus on maintaining a firm `load,' or pressure on the pedals and handlebars.

In these descents I wind up going so fast that it is pointless to pedal. I'll slip from 17 mph to 37 mph in less than 150 feet.

On the Vendetta I lower my center of gravity by doing what I call `tucking.' That is, I scooch down on the seat pan and reduce my frontal area. That alone increases speed by reducing wind/air resistance.

While descending I apply forward load on the handlebars while also applying load on the pedals. This allows me to be much more resistant to minor road imperfections that might jostle the front wheel.

I've learned that the thrill of descending as fast as the bike will go is, simply, stupid. Some mountain grade descents have 20 mph posted speed limits. Attempting to navigate such a switchback at 35 mph on ANY bike is inviting danger.

- Dan

 

[MrSteve]

You're Spot-On, Dan!

Recumbents pick up speed very quickly; I can only imagine how much quicker your Vendetta is than my Sofrider.

The public roads I ride on are not race courses.
They don't have marshals on every corner to help keep danger in check.
There are no course workers out there sweeping sand, gravel and road-kill away.
The roads that you ride on are probably a lot like the ones I ride on!

Blind corners are the second-most dangerous obstacle on public roads (in my opiion), behind everything driven by a human.

Stuff I could have collided with, had I been speeding along, in blind corners:
-a loose bull;
-a cat crossing my line, carrying a killed squirrel across the road;
-an S.U.V. in my lane, passing a cyclist in his lane;
-a school bus cutting the corner;
-a ragged paceline of road riders;
-a slick steel patch covering a road repair-in-progress;
-sand;
-gravel;
-loose rocks;
-tree limbs... and so on.
There were many, many more cars/trucks and vehicles in general (including a few agricultural tractors) over the years that I've managed to dodge in the middle of blind corners.

----

Anyway, back on topic!

On downhills with good visibility?

I too sit low in the saddle, scrunching forward and bridging a little.
More speed is more fun downhill!

Sometimes I take my left foot off of the pedal and rest my left calf on the left pedal:
both legs stretched out forward/parallel with the ground.
That really helps with controlling my aerodynamic drag... but it's an advanced tactic.
I rarely use it myself.


The best speed secret I know, for the hilly roads I ride anyway, is to climb up the hills
fast.
Going downhill takes care of itself, but the faster I climb, the faster my overall speed will be.


Cruzbikes can climb!

-Steve

 

[Kanlan]

Dans downhill

Hey Dan, You finally landed in Warm AZ. Hope retired life is treating you well. I met you at the Arlington 500 last summer, you were wearing the Silvio. I too wear a Silvio but ride it here in the cold Illinois weather. My name is Ron if you remember, you just ordered the Vendette awaiting delivery at that time. I have been dividing my time between riding and running again. My club members say I have gone to the dark side. Nice taking with you, I try to keep up with your adventures an misadventures on your blog. Be safe.

 

[psychling]

Ankle pedaling

Another useful tool for sudden acceleration: ankle pedaling.

As your legs are powering for more speed get your ankles to push forward with your foot on the pedal. I've been amazed at how that can generate dramatic improvement in power and speed.

 

[John Tolhurst]

Its amazing isn't it? So many

Its amazing isn't it? So many tricks to getting a few more watts out that suddenly become important once you have a frame that can deliver it. Compared to boom bents, a properly supported drive structure is simply miles ahead.

 

[dalehough]

I would just love to have a

I would just love to have a Silvio to ride.